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Sunday, January 1, 2017

It's a new year! While I typically don't think of the change in year as being such a big deal (I mean, it is just literally going from one day to the next), it really feels like a bigger change this year due to a lot of change I am currently going through in my own life, which is the reason I have been a bad blogger as of late. I have not written new posts as regularly as I like and have not reviewed the last two movies I have seen, however I have a good excuse.

Over the past month and a half I have been preoccupied with getting started at a new job and moving to a completely new state! With that said, my first New Year's Resolution is to be better at upkeeping the blog. The fact that I've moved is simply an excuse, precisely as I called it. I have had time the past few weeks to write blog posts but have felt uninspired to do so. I believe it's simply changing environments so much and not being around the familiar that has made it harder to be productive with the blog and with my own writing pursuits as well (which hint-hint, that is my second New Year's Resolution, but more on that in a moment).

When it gets right down to it, I have never been a huge fan of change, but change is precisely what God has planned for me right now and I think I've done pretty well handling it overall. With this being my first time away from home, I do get the occasional bouts of homesickness like anyone does, as well it's hard to feel at home in a new place immediately when you lived in your last home for 23 years! Right now I still sorta feel like I'm in an extended stay hotel. It's gonna take an adjustment period, and part of that adjustment period is learning when to carve out time for blogging, writing, and filmmaking. On top of that, taking the time to do those things will help to start making life feel normal again and not all that different. While I am in a new place surrounded by new people, I am still who I've always been and am resilient and capable at facing life head on, so this is where my New Year's Resolutions come in.

As I've already mentioned, my first resolution is to blog more regularly again. In truth, I have been slacking off for the past year or two and I miss being more regular with my blog posts. My second resolution is to be more disciplined in my writing. When I talk of writing, I am not talking of blogging, what I am talking of is my work on novels and screenplays. I am never going to become the multi-millionaire I feel I'm going to one day be if I don't ever actually finish a book or a script and actually get them out in the world, which leads directly into resolution number three. This may seem like my resolution every year, but I am determined to get my first narrative feature film made in 2017, or at the very least, written and financed so that I can start making it. I feel a calling on my life that God has placed upon me that I still have yet to fully embrace.

I have these stories in my head, that whirl around in my heart and soul that I know are gifts from God, gifts that he wants me to share with the whole world. While I know I need to continue paying the bills until the so-called "big break," I know I need to devote more time to making something actually happen with my dreams rather than sitting around and talking about them. To share a quote from one of my favorite books and movies of all-time, courtesy of JK Rowling and Albus Dumbledore, "It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live." That to me is one of the most underrated book and movie quotes of all-time, and in pretty much every way, that is a lesson I need to take more to heart. I am already making big changes in my life with my new job, new home, and other new experiences I am embarking upon trying to fulfill other personal dreams of mine, but it also means that I need to take things one step at a time.

Life changes don't occur in the blink of an eye. They take time, they take planning, and they take faith, as is evidenced in essentially a two month whirlwind where things had to be meticulously thought out and faith was required to get all the needs met for this move. I didn't just get this new job one day and the very next was up here, settled and working. It's been a process, and while I am now physically settled, I know it is going to take a few weeks, maybe even a few months to start to feel emotionally settled. Throughout all of this, I am seeking to continue growing closer to God (which thankfully my new job is helping to facilitate the strides I already took in 2016), while also returning to some normalcy after the insanity that has been the last two months. It's been real hard for me to unwind and not feel like I have something that I have to do every second of every day because I have been so on the move recently. I say all of this to say that this post is very much my making a contract with myself to slow down a bit and get back into the normal swing of things, while still keeping one eye toward the future.

All in all, I am excited for what 2017 will bring. 2016 unfolded in so many unexpected ways. Each time there was a setback, there was a blessing just around the corner, and as I'm coming to learn, that's sort of how life works in general. At this point last year, I would have never imagined I'd be living three hours away from home, on my own, with an 8-hour-a-day/five-days-a-week day job, but here I am. Isn't it amazing how God works that way? So hello, 2017! In the next few days look for my annual year end lists, encapsulating my favorite movies from 2016, as well as my annual list of the movies I am most looking forward to in the coming year!